In the Woods: Audiobook Review
In the Woods – An Audio Book Review
- In the Woods
- Author: Tana French
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 20 hours and 23 minutes
- Unabridged
- Genre: Suspense
Download or CD available to BUY at Amazon.
Alternative narrator version also available.
Audio book Summary:
Panic gripped a small Dublin suburb during the summer 1984 as reports came flooding in children disappearing within the dark forest. Only one child was found in the search, a young boy gripping a tree trunk as if his life depended on it. The young boy did not have any recollection of the events that transpired in the woods.
Two decades later, the young boy, Rob Ryan has become a detective for the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his dark past a secret to everyone. Unfortunately, his grim past seems to return as reports of a 12 year old girl have been found brutally murdered in the same woods where he disappeared. Now, Detective Rob Ryan must confront his deepest fear and try to remember the events that happened 20 years ago in order to finally close the darkest chapter in his life, once and for all.
One reason to listen:
If you like a dark suspense mystery tale that shows monsters are very real and they are close.
Reactions:
“One of the best-written and best read combinations around. I put off reading Tana French for a long time because I’ve been suckered too often, but when I was barely 1/4 way through Part One (of 3), I sat down and ordered the next two books she has written. The writing is THAT good. The story is elegant and moving and convincing, and the characters are more-real than most of the people in your own life. Steven Crossley has an amazing, rich and varied voice, an almost-beautiful thing to hear.
Here comes the flaw. This is a book which takes place in Ireland, in small town Ireland, amongst working class Irish people. ALL of them are Irish, but NONE of their accents are. The first-person narrator explains away his English accent by conveniently spending his teen years in English boarding school, but what of everyone else? It might be a sin for an English actor to attempt an Irish accent and do it badly, and I do love Crossley’s voice, but surely there are Irish narrators looking for work? I’ve enjoyed many other Irish novels read by Irish readers — in fact it is one reason I choose an audiobook over the print version sometimes. So, the English reader loses a star for this otherwise brilliant book” – Barbara
“Never have I given, to my friends or in the few reviews I have done here, a 5 star review. I cannot say enough about this book, and I really can’t say much without it being a spoiler. I was amazed at the quality of the writing; tight, suspensful, well-rounded characters that you really cared about as well as vivid detailed descriptions of the countryside. I suspect that the “first novel” appellation may turn out to be false, and that this is written under a psuedonom (the writer is Tana French). Whatever, the book is a sitting in the car in the driveway, taking the Mp3 player into the house and listening during dinner book. I was unable to put it down. The author foreswears cliches and even the most jaded mystery reader will enjoy the twists and turns as our Detective protagonist trys to explore the depths of his boyhood memory to solve this modern day case. A fantastic book. If this author is really a newcomer, I await breathlessly the next book from Tana French.” – Joan
“The narrator really brought down the calibre of the piece. His own accent was fine when speaking first person, but he could not make me feel that this story took place in Dublin. Any of his accents of other characters—all Irish—still sounded British, and his voices for women, no matter the age of the character, sounded old, feeble, and rather pathetic. Still the story kept me engaged in spite of that sad mismatch. That speaks to the writing.” – Maureen
“I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I couldn’t turn my Ipod off, I did extra housework to keep listening to it. In the end, though, don’t look for straightforward answers. If you want a detective story that’s nicely tied up in the end, this one may not satisfy. Some big loose ends are left dangling; let’s hope the author has future plans to tie them up. If you want entertainment and an intriguing listen that will keep you guessing and make you think, though, this is definitely worth the listen.” – Mandachris
“I prefer more action, humor, and excitement in the books I listen to; but I had to give “In the Woods” five stars, because Tana French wrote it so beautifully. It proceeds slowly and quietly, without thrills and chills, to the ultimate solution of the murder mystery. The solution does not provide the happy ending that I wanted, but probably more accurately depicts real detective work in the real world. I like the reader, Steven Crossley, but it puzzled me that he never used an Irish accent, since the story takes place in Ireland. Also, it disappointed me that the protagonist — the detective solving the murder — never solved his own twenty-year-old mystery that had propelled him into police work in the first place. I recommend this book to people who value exquisite character development and lyrical writing, but maybe not so much to fans of the mystery-thriller genre.” – Snoodely
Score on Audible: 3.4 out of 5
Score on Amazon: 3.3 out of 5
